Rutgers offensive tackle Anthony Davis is on his way to San Francisco this afternoon, according to his agent. He'll have dinner with coach Mike Singletary tonight and has a full day of meetings tomorrow. Davis reminds me a lot of a tackle that was taken in last year's draft, Andre Smith. Like Smith, Davis has some character/work ethic concerns and his stock has taken a tumble. The question, however, is whether that tumble has occurred solely in the media or on teams' draft boards as well. Smith, after all, was supposedly in a "freefall" at this time last year. He ended up being drafted sixth overall.
Davis held a private workout in New Jersey on Tuesday, the same day Singletary and Trent Baalke were in Lufkin, Texas checking out receiver Dez Bryant. Eleven teams watched Davis, who weighed in at 327 pounds, go through position drills, and the 49ers had two scouts in attendance.
Davis already has visited the Bills (9th overall pick) and met with the Raiders (8th), and there's a good chance he doesn't last to pick No. 13. If he does, it's very hard to see the 49ers passing him up. He's big, athletic and can play left tackle - which is what the 49ers would prefer if they're taking a tackle 13th overall. Furthermore, Singletary really wanted to draft a tackle last year. That desire has to be even greater this year.
Now with all that being said, I think offensive line coach Mike Solari has to have a good feeling about his offensive line after seeing them in a two-day OTA earlier this week. First, everyone was there, including guard David Baas, who is smart to have signed an injury waiver and taken part in the team's offseason program. Baas is making sure nobody prematurely steps into his left guard spot. Alex Boone has been reborn, which is another positive. But most of all, there was a sense from the offensive lineman that they'd listened to and read a lot of criticism and that they were intent on proving themselves in 2010. And that might have been the most positive development from OTAs.
-- Matt Barrows
